Exciting Times Ahead!!!

Hi everyone, I hope you all had a great week!

I'm feeling really Positive today as I had a Great end to last week....

As some of you may have seen, EBW are opening their own facility! This is such great news for not only James, Ben and Katie who have worked incredibly hard to get to this point, but also for all the clients of theirs who have been waiting for this for a very long time! So a massive Well Done and Congratulations to them and I look forward to settling into the new facility with everyone and watching the business grow even more!!



Obviously we needed to celebrate! So Saturday night meant a lovely Thai Meal and, of course, Bubbles! (Ok, I felt this occasion would warrant a break in ED - but it would have been the reintroduction of alcohol...!)

The subject of Thai ties in nicely with my last blog and an update on how the curry for 20 people went...

Well, I think it went pretty damn well if I do say so myself! I wanted it to be fresh so I cooked it on Sunday morning, having done all the shopping prep on Saturday. I have to say, the morning went without a glitch! I surprised myself at being able to cook food for that many people - although a curry is probably the easiest meal to mass-cook! But considering I made it from scratch, I was glad I managed to adjust timings correctly to allow the dish to be tip top with no mistakes!

De-lish!!!!

3kgs Lamb Curry and 1kg Jasmine Basmati Rice

 

 I had pretty amazing feedback too, which I hadn't expected for just a curry! And silly me thought there would be leftovers...no such luck! I am really glad that people enjoyed it and have asked me for the recipe, so here goes....!

Frankis Massaman Curry, Serves 4

• 600g Diced Lamb
• 500ml of Veg or Lamb stock (just water, salt and pepper if elimination)
• 3 Bay Leaves
  
• 1 thumb sized piece of Ginger, peeled and finely chopped / grated
• 4 Garlic cloves, finely chopped
• 2 Lemongrass stalks, finely chopped
• 2 Red Chillies, finely chopped (don’t deseed if a spicier curry is preferred)
• 2tsps Fresh Coriander, crushed
• 2tsps Ground Cumin
• 3tsps Turmeric
• 4 Cardamon pods, shelled – use seeds
• 1 Star Anise - optional
• 2tbsps Brown Sugar (leave out if elimination)
• 2 tbsps Fish Sauce (Gluten free)
• 100g Unsalted Cashews (not for elimination)
• Himalayan Pink Salt to taste
• Black Pepper to taste
• 400ml coconut milk or 500ml coconut cream
• 250ml coconut cream (extra and optional – see rice)
• Fresh Corriander Leaves
• 1-2 potatoes, diced. For Elimination, use parsnips (I included green beans to add some extra nutrients)

1. Place the lamb in a large saucepan with the stock and bay leaves
2. On a medium heat, cook for 90 minutes, making sure it is covered. Stir occasionally and bring the heat down if it bubbles too much.
3. Whilst this is cooking, mix the remaining ingredients in a large mixing bowl, including the coconut milk / cream and the parsnips’ and leave to one side – this gives the ingredients a chance to bind together. Leave a few of the nuts aside and crush
4. Once the lamb has cooked for 90mins, add the sauce ingredients and simmer for a further 30-40 mins depending on the lamb / parsnip tenderness
5. Roast the cashews for 5 mins, or until golden brown.
6. Serve with jasmine basmati rice. For amore indulgent treat, make the rice with coconut cream as well as a bit of water.  Sprinkle the roasted nuts and fresh coriander on the curry
Enjoy J

 So there you go! Give it a go and let me know what you think!

Speaking of ED - how am I doing? Well....

So after 2 weeks, this is my progress picture




Left - November 26th after 16 days on ED
Middle - January 6th, restarting ED
Right -   January 21st Day 16 of ED

Since January 6th, I have lost 2kgs and 1.2% Body Fat - pleased with that!!

I can certainly see a change, albeit not quite the same as last time! I think the first time I did it, I was 'afraid' to eat any carbs (white rice) and I saw my weight fall to the lowest it has been (since I was a teenager anyway!)

Happy that my single ab is back! Just frustrating that I didn't get the flatness of my stomach back - but I think this is down to the Op I had - I have been told to expect a rounded tummy until at least March.... But I will persevere with it as again, I have felt so much better from doing it!

I have to give a special mention to one of my good friends Kat Dacre, a non gym buddy (yes, I do actually have some of those) - She invited me and our other old college friend Lauren over for lunch on Day 13, offering to cook us up a treat.


I told her from the outset about the diet and that I was happy to bring my own lunch to save her the hassle. Bless her, she told me she liked a challenge and told me to explain what I could have. So I did. And I was overwhelmed - she cooked up an amazing Indian Feast, complete with onion free Curried Seabass, Cardamon Carrots, Spiced Okra and Fluffy White Rice! Yes, sat around the table I was questioned about what I was doing to which I explained - and no one thought I was weird / fussy etc, they were genuinely interested in what I was doing and asking questions for information, not to judge. Thanks Ladies (and Dan!) xx



Anyway, I digress...

The Reintroductions

Day 15 - Caffeine
Yay! I had some lovely Monmouth Coffee finally! I already knew I was ok with Caffeine, so I just wanted a fix. I had 2 cups of black coffee and some ginger green tea with no reactions - wonderful!





















Day 16 - Nuts
I deviated from the original plan of Beef and opted for nuts as I wanted to try an adaption of the Fitter Foods Turkey and Chestnut Burgers - I added in some cranberries as they had suggested for their Christmas Scotch Eggs - yummy! Although, I am still trying really hard to like turkey...!






Day 17 - No Reintroduction
Nothing today, just back to completely clean as upon waking, I had a swollen, painful stomach....Hmm, would seem that Nuts may be on my 'off' list.....!

Day 18 - Potatoes
I am always dubious about eating potatoes, I always feel like they will bloat me!! Today I snacked on some baked sweet potato cubes and had homemade bubble and squeak with salmon for lunch (no onion in the B&S)! No reaction but did feel very full up and didn't fancy my dinner... so I will try both types again, on different days to see if it was one type in particular or both (I hope not, I bloody LOVE Sweet Potato!)

Day 19 - Pork, well, Chorizo!
I decided to try Chorizo again as last year Zuz and I had an infatuation with the stuff and had it nearly every day for lunch....which was not ideal at all! I had selflessly given up my homemade chilli to James that morning so it left me heading to the supermarket for lunch. I decided on Chorizo and salad bits. It was ok...I just noticed how incredibly salty it was and it didn't fill me up for very long!

Day 20 and 21 - Dairy and Sugar....and Champagne!
Ok so I may have slightly gone off track! I had some Salted Caramel Ice cream (only 2 teaspoons though!) and some chocolate on Saturday - I was celebrating! and also 2 glasses of Champers at dinner. So not toooo bad...! Sunday saw a breakfast meeting with the EBW team, so that was eggs, sausage and bacon...but no reaction which was a bonus! In the evening, I made my curry for my family, they were visiting us especially....! And I thought it would be rude not to make a dessert - so I made an Upside Down Apple Tart with Coconut Whipped Cream, courtesy of my Christmas present from mum - a Paleo cookbook from http://www.elanaspantry.com/




Think I need to work on my Almond Flour Pastries!


I'll admit that I do not feel great today, waking again with a bloat so I am back to clean Elimination! Until I came to work to have my First Free Graze Box delivered to me...Take a look at what they sent me....

Chocolates!
Brownies!
Fudge!


Uh Oh...... !!What are they doing to me...!? (Secretly, I don't mind too much....!)


Oops, Just realised how long this post is!

But one more thing.....

Training - so what am I doing right now?

Ha, well I have decided to enter another Competition! Eeek! Not Olympic Lifting though. Nope, this time, a Strongwoman Competition....! Don't worry, I will make up my mind soon on what I actually want to do, once my stomach and damn knee heal!

This Comp will see me competing in the u63kg category, meaning women who are potentially up to 10 kgs heavier than me..... Events include;

70kg Worlds Strongest Man Squat for reps
35kg Log Press for Reps
50kg Arm over Arm Pull for speed
50kg (each hand) Farmers, 15 meters x 2 for speed
Loading Medley 20kgs-40kgs.

And this is in April. Hmmmm. So for the foreseeable, my PT Sessions will revolve around the above events - I am already quietly confident at my ability for the log and the Squat, I can currently do about 47.5kg farmers in under 15 seconds but for a shorter distance...and the other two will just need to be worked on for technique - but I think I could do well. For me anyway, I very highly doubt I could place, and this is more for me to train towards something and hit some PBs.

But you never know who will be there and how well I will do!

I shall keep you posted on my Comp Prep Progress too...!

Wow, I like to pile on the pressure don't I....Full Time Job, Part Time assistance with EBW, writing a blog, concocting recipes, training for a competition and I have found a new like for Yoga.....phew...! Ah well, I LOVE IT!!!

Hope you are all doing well with your set goals! Has anyone got any recipes they would like to share? Have you decided to try something new to see how it can benefit you?

Ok, really, ONE more important thing....

If you woud like any more information, or are interested in the Services that EBW have to offer, please send an email to info@elite-bodyworks.com or visit their webpage www.elite-bodyworks.com


Franki x